Delphi Complete Works of Varro

by Marcus Terentius Varro

  Ergo qui suum gregem vult habere idoneum, eligere oportet primum bona aetate, secundo bona forma (ea est cum amplitudine membrorum, praeterquam pedibus capite), unicoloris potius quam varias. Cum haec eadem ut habeant verres videndum, tum utique sint cervicibus amplis. Boni seminis sues animadvertuntur a facie et progenie et regione caeli: a facie, si formosi sunt verris et scrofa; a progenie, si porcos multos pariunt; a regione, si potius ex his locis, ubi nascuntur amplae quam exiles, pararis. Emi solent sic: “illasce sues sanas esse habereque recte licere noxisque praestari neque de pecore morboso esse spondesne?” Quidam adiciunt perfunctas esse a febri et a foria.

  In pastu locus huic pecori aptus uliginosus, quod delectatur non solum aqua sed etiam luto. Itaque ob eam rem aiunt lupos, cum sint nancti sues, trahere usque ad aquam, quod dentes fervorem carnis ferre nequeant. Hoc pecus alitur maxime glande, deinde faba et hordeo et cetero frumento, quae res non modo pinguitudinem efficiunt, se etiam carnis iucundum saporem. Pastum exigunt aestate mane et, antequam aestus incipiat, subigunt in umbrosum locum, maxime ubi aqua sit; post meridiem rursus lenito fervore pascunt. Hiberno tempore non prius exigunt pastum, quam pruina evanuit ac colliquefacta est glacies. Ad feturam verres duobus mensibus ante secernendi. Optimum ad admissuram tempus a favonio ad aequinoctium vernum; ita enim contingit ut aestate pariat. Quattuor enim menses est praegnans et tunc parit, cum pabulo abundat terra. Neque minores admittendae quam anniculae; melius viginti menses exspectare, ut bimae pariant. Cum coeperunt, id facere dicuntur usque ad septimum annum recte. Admissuras cum faciunt, prodigunt in lutosos limites ac lustra, ut uolutentur in luto, quae enim illorum requies, ut lavatio hominis. Cum omnes conceperunt, rursus segregant verres. Verris octo mensum incipit salire, permanet ut id recte facere possit ad trimum, deinde it retro, quoad pervenit ad lanium. Hic enim conciliator suillae carnis datus populo.

  Sus graece dicitur hys, olim thys dictus ab illo verbo quod dicunt thyein, quod est immolare. Ab suillo enim pecore immolandi initium primum sumptum videtur, cuius vestigia, quod initiis Cereris porci immolantur, et quod initiis pacis, foedus cum feritur, porcus occiditur, et quod nuptiarum initio antiqui reges ac sublimes viri in Etruria in coniunctione nuptiali nova nupta et nouus maritus primum procum immolant. Prisci quoque Latini, etiam Graeci in Italia idem factitasse videntur. Nam et nostrae mulieres, maxime nutrices, naturam qua feminae sunt in virginibus appellant porcum, et Graecae choeron, significantes esse dignum insigne nuptiarum. Suillum pecus donatum ab natura dicunt ad epulandum; itaque iis animam datam esse proinde ac salem, quae servaret carnem. E quis succidias Galli optimas et maximas facere consuerunt. Optimarum signum, quod etiam nunc quotannis e Gallia adportantur Romam pernae Comacinae et Cavarae et petasiones. De magnitudine Gallicarum succidiarum Cato scribit his verbis: “in Italia Insubres terna atque quaterna milia aulia succidia vere sus usque adeo pinguitudine crescere solet, ut se ipsa stans sustinere non possit neque progredi usquam. Itaque eas siquis quo traicere volt, in plaustrum imponit”. In Hispania ulteriore in Lusitania sus cum esset occisus, Atilius Hispaniensis, minime mendax et multarum rerum peritus in doctrina, dicebat L. Volumnio senatori missam esse offulam cum duabus costis, quae penderet tres et viginti pondo, eiusque suis a cute ad os pedem et tres digitos fuisse. Cui ego, Non minus res admiranda cum mi esset dicta in Arcadia, scio me isse spectatum suem, quae prae pinguitudine carnis non modo surgere non posset, sed etiam ut in eius corpore sorex exesa carne nidum fecisset et peperisset mures. Hoc etiam in Venetia factum accepi.

  Sus ad feturam quae sit fecunda, animadvertunt fere ex primo partu, quod non multum in reliquis mutat. In nutricatu, quam porculationem appellant, binis mensibus porcos sinunt cum matribus; secundo, cum iam pasci possunt, secernunt. Porci, qui nati hieme, fiunt propter frigora et quod matres aspernantur propter exiguitatem lactis, quod dentibus sauciantur propterea mammae. Scrofa in sua quaeque hara suos alat oportet porcos, quod alienos non aspernatur et ideo, si conturbati sunt, in fetura fit deterior. Natura divisus earum annus bifariam, quod bis parit in anno: quaternis mensibus fert ventrem, binis nutricat. Haram facere oportet circiter trium pedum altam et latam amplius paulo, ea altitudine abs terra, ne, dum exilire velit praegnas, abortet. Altitudinis modus sit, ut subulcus facile circumspicere possit nequi porcellus a matre opprimatur, et ut facile purigare possit cubile. In haris ostium esse oportet et limen inferius altum palmipedale, ne porci, ex hara cum mater prodit, transilire possint. Quotienscumque haras subulcus purgat, totiens harenam inicere oportet, aut quid item quod exsugat umorem in singulas haras inicere debet; et cum peperit, largiore cibatu sustentare, quo facilius lac suppeditare possit. Quibus hordei circiter binas libras aqua madefactas dare solent, quod quidam duplicant, ut sit mane et vesperi, si alia quae obiciant non habuerint. Cum porci depulsi sunt a mamma, a quibusdam delici appellantur neque iam lactantes dicuntur, qui a partu decimo die habentur puri, et ab eo appellantur ab antiquis sacres, quod tum ad sacrificium idonei dicuntur primum. Itaque aput Plautum in Menaechmis, cum insanum quem putat, ut pietur, in oppido Epidamno interrogat “quanti hic porci sunt sacres?” Si fundus ministrat, dari solent vinacea ac scopi ex uvis. Amisso nomine lactantes dicuntur nefrendes ab eo, quod nondum fabam frendere possunt, id est frangere. Porcus Graecum est nomen antiquum, sed obscuratum, quod nunc eum uocant choeron. In eorum partu scrofae bis die ut bibant curant lactis causa. Parere dicunt oportere porcos, quot mammas habeat; si minus pariat, fructuariam idoneam non esse; si plures pariat, esse portentum. In quo illud antiquissimum fuisse scribitur, quod sus Aeneae Lavini triginta porcos peperit albos. Itaque quod portenderit factum, post tricesimum annum ut Lavinienses condiderint oppidum Albam. Huius suis ac porcorum etiam nunc vestigia apparent, quod et simulacra eorum ahenea etiam nunc in publico posita, et corpus matris ab sacerdotibus, quod in salsura fuerit, demonstratur. Nutricare octonos porcos parvulos primo possunt; incremento facto a peritis dimidia pars removeri solet, quod neque mater potest sufferre lac, neque congenerati alescendo roborari. A partu decem diebus proximis non producunt ex haris matrem, praeterquam potum. Praeteritis decem diebus sinunt exire pastum in propincum locum villae, ut crebro reditu lacte alere possint porcos. Cum creverunt, patiuntur sequi matrem pastum domique secernunt a matribus ac seorsum pascunt, ut desiderium ferre possint parentis nutricis, quod decem diebus assecuntur. Subulcus debet consuefacere, omnia ut faciant ad bucinam. Primo cum incluserunt, cum bucinatum est, aperiunt, ut exire possint in eum locum, ubi hordeum fusum in longitudine. Sic enim minus disperit, quam si in acervo positum, et plures facilius accedunt. Ideo ad bucinam convenire dicuntur, ut silvestri loco dispersi ne dispereant. Castrantur verres commodissime anniculi, utique ne minores quam semestres; quo facto nomen mutant atque e verribus dicuntur maiales. De sanitate suum unum modo exempli causa dicam: porcis lactentibus si scrofa lac non potest suppeditare, triticum frictum dari oportet (crudum enim solvit alvom) vel hordeum obici ex aqua, quoad fiant trimestres. De numero in centum sues decem verres satis esse putant; quidam etiam hinc demunt. Greges inaequabiles habent; sed ego modicum puto centenarium; aliquot maiores faciunt, ita ut ter quinquagenos habeant. Porcorum gregem alii duplicant, alii etiam maiorem faciunt. Minor grex quam maior minus sumptuosus, quod comites subulcus pauciores quaerit. Itaque gregis numerum pastor ab sua utilitate constituit, non ut quot verres habeat; id enim ab natura sumendum.

  [4.1] “But who sails forth from harbour, and preferably from an Italian harbour, to discourse about swine? I need hardly ask, for that Scrofa should be chosen to speak on that subject this surname of his indicates.” “You seem,” said Tremelius in reply, “not to know why I have the nickname Scrofa. That these gentlemen, too, may learn the reason while you are being enlightened, you must know that my family does not bear a swinish surname, and that I am no descendant of Eumaeus. My grandfather was the first to be called Scrofa. He was quaestor to the praetor Licinius Nerva, in the province of Macedonia, and was left in command of the army until the return of the praetor. The enemy, thinking that they had an opportunity to win a victory, began a vigorous assault on the camp. [2] In the course of h
is plea to the soldiers to seize arms and go to meet them, my grandfather said that he would scatter those people as a sow scatters her pigs; and he was as good as his word. For he so scattered and routed the enemy in that battle that because of it the praetor Nerva received the title of Imperator, and my grandfather earned the surname of Scrofa. Hence neither my great-grandfather nor any of the Tremelii who preceded him was called by this surname of Scrofa; and I am no less than the seventh man of praetorian rank in succession in our family. [3] Still, I will not shrink from the task of telling what I know about swine. For I have been a close student of agriculture since my earliest days, and this matter of swine is of equal interest to me and to you who are large cattle-owners. For who of our people cultivates a farm without keeping swine? and who has not heard that our fathers called him lazy and extravagant who hung in his larder a flitch of bacon which he had purchased from the butcher rather than got from his own farm?

  “A man, then, who wishes to keep his herd in good condition should select, first, animals of the proper age, secondly, of good conformation (that is, with heavy members, except in the case of feet and head), of uniform colour rather than spotted. You should see that the boars have not only these same qualities, but especially that their shoulders are well developed. [4] The breed of swine is determined by their appearance, their litter, and the locality from which they come: from their appearance if both boar and sow are handsome; from their litter if they produce numerous pigs; from the locality if you get them from places where fat rather than thin swine are produced. [5] The formula of purchase usually runs as follows: ‘Do you guarantee that the said swine are sound, and that the title is good, and that I am protected from suits for damage, and that they are not from a diseased herd?’ Some buyers add the stipulation that they have got through with fever and diarrhoea.

  “In the matter of feeding, ground proper for this animal is wet, as it likes not only water but even mud. It is for this reason, they say, that wolves, when they catch swine, always drag them to water, because their teeth cannot endure the heat of the flesh. [6] As this animal feeds chiefly on mast, and next on beans, barley, and other grains, this food produces not only fat but a pleasant flavour in the flesh. In summer they are driven to pasture early in the day, and before the heat grows intense they are driven into a shady spot, preferably where there is water; then in the afternoon, when the heat has diminished, they are again turned out to pasture. In winter they are not turned out until the frost has disappeared and the ice has melted. [7] In the matter of breeding, the boars are to be separated out two months ahead. The best time for service is from the beginning of the west wind to the spring equinox, as in this case the litter is produced in summer. For the sow is pregnant for four months and will thus bear her young when the land is rich in food. Sows should not be bred when less than a year old, and it is better to wait until they are twenty months old, so that they will be two years old when they bear. When they once begin bearing it is said that they continue to do so satisfactorily up to the seventh year. [8] At the time of breeding they are driven into muddy lanes and pools, so that they may wallow in the mud; for this is their form of refreshment, as bathing is to human beings. After all the sows have conceived, the boars are again separated. The boar begins to cover at eight months and keeps his vigour up to three years; after which time he begins to deteriorate until he reaches the butcher, the appointed go-between of pork and the populace.

  [9] “The Greek name for the pig is ὕς, once called θῦς from the verb θῦειν, that is, ‘to sacrifice’; for it seems that at the beginning of making sacrifices they first took the victim from the swine family. There are traces of this in these facts: that pigs are sacrificed at the initial rites of Ceres; that at the rites that initiate peace, when a treaty is made, a pig is killed; and that at the beginning of the marriage rites of ancient kings and eminent personages in Etruria, the bride and groom, in the ceremonies which united them, first sacrificed a pig. [10] The ancient Latins, too, as well as the Greeks living in Italy, seem to have had the same custom; for our women, and especially nurses, call that part which in girls is the mark of their sex porcus, as Greek women call it choeros, meaning thereby that it is a distinctive part mature enough for marriage. There is a saying that the race of pigs is expressly given by nature to set forth a banquet; and that accordingly life was given them just like salt, to preserve the flesh. The Gauls usually make the best and largest flitches of them; it is a sign of their excellence that annually Comacine and Cavarine hams and shoulders are still imported from Gaul to Rome. [11] With regard to the size of the Gallic flitches, Cato uses this language: ‘The Insubrians in Italy salt down three and four thousand flitches; in spring the sow grows so fat that she cannot stand on her own feet, and cannot take a step; and so when one is to be taken anywhere it is placed in a wagon.’ Atilius of Spain, a thoroughly truthful man and one widely versed in a variety of subjects, used to tell the story that when a sow was killed in Lusitania, a district of Farther Spain, there was sent to the senator Lucius Volumnius a piece of the meat with two ribs attached which weighed •three-and-twenty pounds; and that the meat of that sow was •one foot three fingers thick from skin to bone.” [12] “No less remarkable a thing was told me in Arcadia,” I remarked; “I recall that I went to look at a sow which was so fat that not only could she not rise to her feet, but actually a shrew-mouse had eaten a hole in her flesh, built her nest, and borne her young. I have heard that the same thing occurred in Venetia.”

  [13] “It may usually be determined from the first litter which sow is prolific in breeding, as there is not much difference in the number of pigs in the succeeding litters. As to rearing, which is called porculatio, the pigs are allowed to remain with their mothers for two months; in the second month, after they are able to feed, they are removed. Pigs born in winter are apt to grow thin on account of the cold and because the mothers drive them off on account of the scantiness of the milk, and the consequent bruising of their teats by the teeth of the pigs. Each sow should have her separate sty in which to feed her pigs; because she does not drive away the pigs of a strange litter, and so, if they become mixed she deteriorates in breeding. [14] Her year is naturally divided into two parts, as she bears twice a year, being with young for four months and giving suck for two. The sty should be constructed •about three feet high, and a little more than that across, at such a height from the ground that if the sow when pregnant should try to jump out, she will not cast her young. The height of the pen should be such that the swineherd can easily look around it, to prevent the little pigs from being crushed by the mother, and be able to clean the bottom without trouble. The sty should have a door with the lower sill •one and a third feet high, so that the pigs cannot jump over it when the mother leaves the sty. [15] Whenever the swineherd cleans the sty he should always cover the floor with sand, or throw into each sty something to soak up the moisture; and when a sow has young he should feed her more bountifully so that she may more easily supply milk. They are usually fed about two pounds of barley soaked in water; some double this amount, feeding both morning and evening, if they have no other food to give. [16] Pigs when weaned are by some people no longer called ‘sucking-pigs,’ but delici or shoats. On the tenth day after birth they are considered ‘pure,’ and for that reason the ancients called them sacres, because they are said to be fit for sacrifice first at that age. Hence in Plautus’s play, the Menaechmi, the scene of which is laid in Epidamnus, a character who, thinking that another is mad, wants him to make sacrifice and be cured, asks: ‘What’s the price of porci sacres in this town?’ Wine dregs and grape refuse are usually fed them if the farm produces these. [17] When they have outgrown the name of sucking-pigs they are called nefrendes, from the fact that they are not able to ‘crunch’ (frendere), that is crush, beans. Porcus is an old Greek word, but it is obsolete, as they now use the word choeros. At the time of bearing, care is taken to see that the sows drink twice a day for the sake of the milk. The saying is
that a sow should bear as many pigs as she has teats; if she bear less she will not pay for herself, and if she bear more it is a portent. [18] It is recorded that the most ancient portent of this kind is the sow of Aeneas at Lavinium, which bore thirty white pigs; and the portent was fulfilled in that thirty years later the people of Lavinium founded the town of Alba. Traces of this sow and her pigs are to be seen even to this day; there are bronze images of them standing in public places even now, and the body of the sow is exhibited by the priests, having been kept in brine, according to their account. [19] A sow can feed eight little pigs at first; but when they have taken on weight it is the practice of experienced breeders to remove half of them, as the mother cannot supply enough milk and the whole of the litter cannot grow fat. The mother is not driven out of the sty except for water during the first ten days after delivery; but after this time they are allowed to range for food in near-by parts of the steading, so that they may come back often and feed their pigs. [20] When these are grown they are allowed to follow the mother to pasture; but when they come home they are separated from the mothers and fed apart, so as to grow accustomed to the lack of the mother’s nourishment, a point which they reach in ten days. The swineherd should accustom them to do everything to the sound of the horn. At first they are penned in; and then, when the horn sounds, the sty is opened so that they can come out into the place where barley is spread out. This is spread in a row because in that way less is wasted than if it is heaped up, and more of them can reach it easily. The idea in having them gather at the sound of the horn is that they may not become lost when scattered in wooded country. [21] The best time for castrating the boars is when one year old, and certainly not less than six months; when this is done their name is changed, and they are called ‘barrows’ instead of boars. As to the health of swine, I shall give but one illustration: if the sow cannot furnish enough milk for the sucking-pigs, toasted wheat should be fed (for raw wheat loosens the bowels), or barley soaked in water, until they are three months old. [22] As to numbers, ten boars are considered enough for 100 sows, and some breeders even lessen this number. The number in a herd varies; for myself I consider a herd of 100 a reasonable number, but some breeders have larger ones, the number sometimes going as high as 150. Some double the size of the herd, and others have even a larger herd. A rather small herd is less expensive than one too large, as the herdsman requires fewer helpers; and so the breeder determines the size of the herd by his own advantage, and not as he determines the number of boars to keep, as this latter point is derived from nature.”